


The Dementor Effect

by darthrev



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Good Slytherins, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Minor Character(s), Multi-Year, Pre-Relationship, Slytherins Being Slytherins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-11-08 16:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11085681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darthrev/pseuds/darthrev
Summary: Theodore Nott did not like people in general. He felt no need for gangs or friends beyond the housemates he was grouped with, but when he finds himself bonding with Luna Lovegood striking up a friendship with Luna Lovegood thanks to the intervention of Dementors, he might find his life to be different than he ever imagined it to be.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fleiur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fleiur/gifts).



Theo frowned slightly, his gaze drifting out the window feeling, well, not bored exactly but rather constrained, like he was caught knee deep in a particularly nasty bit of quicksand. He did not much like groups or gangs in general, even the one that know-it-all hat placed him in in his first year. He only looked up when Draco addressed him directly.

“Hey Nott, are you listening?” he asked, looking quite annoyed as though he had been expounding upon a subject of great importance. As always, Pansy was sitting beside him, glaring at the one who dared to slight her-not-quite-boyfriend. Theo suppressed a sneer. As though Draco was interested in girls at the ripe age of thirteen. His own parents had been older when their parents pushed them together, Edmund Nott more than twice the age of his wife, a girl fresh out of Hogwarts like a virgin offering to a monster.

“No, I am not. What did Potter do this time?” he asked with more harshness in his voice than he meant, “Or was it Granger? I swear it's unhealthy to think about them as much as you do.”

“Just snog them or don't,” Blaise cracked, earning a glare from both the Malfoy heir and the girl beside him.

“Shut your mouth, Zabini. Not everyone has snogging on the brain,” Draco sneered. The darker boy merely shrugged.

“Liar,” he smirked and Theo stood up, grabbing his Ancient Runes course book and leaving the compartment. He did not want to deal with Blaise's mother raising him to be an incubus or Draco's obsession over a slight two years ago or Pansy's infatuation over a boy her parents told her every day over the summer holidays was destined to be hers. He did not want to deal with thoughts about his mother. Perhaps if he left the compartment he'd leave them behind.

It worked sometimes.

He passed by Crabbe and Goyle, ignoring the glares sent his way. They wouldn't dare touch him. He strode through the different compartments, certain that he would find an empty one in no time. When he found himself passing by a group of older year Gryffindors, he gripped his wand, but nothing came of it. Cold eyes merely watched him pass by, but it was enough to convince him that he didn't need a completely empty compartment. Not all Gryffindors let a Slytherin pass without challenge.

Thus, when he found a compartment containing only a dirty blonde haired witch with her eyes buried in a magazine, he decided it was good enough. Deciding that she would be easy enough to drive away, he took a seat directly in front of her and stared with a smirk plastered on his face.

She looked up curiously, too big eyes fixing themselves on him for a moment before returning to her magazine. Theodore suppressed the urge to frown. If he kept staring at her like that, he was sure she'd leave. Acting like a Slytherin up to no good never failed to scare people off before...

“It must hurt to force your face into that shape,” she told him airily. He blinked in surprise, watching her hum a little as she turned a page. He flushed in embarrassment at how stupid he must have looked.

“It must hurt not to blink,” he retorted weakly. She smiled appreciatively at him.

“I haven't noticed, but I will try to blink more. Thank you.”

“You're welcome,” he murmured, turning his attention to his book. He turned his attention to his book again. Her sitting there didn't bother him much anyway. At any rate, she seemed content to leave him to his reading while she did hers. Still, he could not help but eye her now and then, mostly when he turned a page. Now that he took a good look at her, she seemed dressed rather oddly and not like a Muggle-Born either. Muggles had their own rules about their clothes and he was pretty sure they did not wear purple and orange together and was that Butterbeer cork necklace around her neck? She smiled at him.

“It's for keeping Wrackspurts away. I can make you one if you want. You seem to have a nasty case of them. Really nasty ones make your thoughts dark and moody instead of unfocused.”

He glared at her.

“I am not moody or unfocused,” he told her, “And I've never heard of wrackspurts before so quit making rot up.”

“I am not making rot up,” she told him, sounding insulted for the first time since he saw her and he grinned in satisfaction.

“Oh, then can you prove they exist?” he challenged. She frowned thoughtfully.

“I had a pair of Spectrespecs, but I seem to have misplaced them. Perhaps the Nargles took them...”

Theo suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.

“Well, owl me if you get a new pair,” he told her sarcastically. She smiled at him.

“I will,” she promised. He studied her. Did she not read sarcasm or did she pretend not to. He closed his book and looked out the window. This girl was maddening. He frowned as he saw the sky darken with clouds. It was sunny just five minutes ago. Then with a shudder the train came to a halt and a shiver ran down his spine.

This. This wasn't right. He had never heard of the train suddenly stopping like this before. He looked over a the girl questioningly and for once, she seemed to be as lost as he was.

“What's happening?” he asked.

“I don't know, but it's cold,” she told him and he shivered again as much as from the chill as the fear in her voice. The windows were icing up and he felt... It was as though all the feeling was being sucked out of him. He felt sweat run down his arms and he couldn't bring himself to move his arms from around his chest. It became worse when the door shuddered open and they came in.

They were dark and hooded and he wanted to crawl in a hole and die. He tried to stand up, maybe to run or something, but he only felt to the floor. He saw a black cloak glide in front of his vision and he closed his eyes, but that didn't help.

_Her body laid still in the snow. He tried to wake her up. He pushed and pulled at her and when he failed, he tried to pick her up, but she was too heavy and stiff. Her eyes were wide open and they stared at him._

_He crawled away in horror. He didn't want to look at them. The accusation in them. His vision swam._

_“Your fault,” his father growled at him from a distance._

He forced open his eyes with a gasp, the things having passed them already. The girl was murmuring to herself. He could barely make out the words as he tried to prop his head up against the wall. He struggled to remember her name, but he realized he never got it.

“Girl! They're gone!” he told her, unable to quite raise his voice louder than a hoarse shout. She looked up at him and nodded.

“Dementors...” she said lowly and damn it this wasn't right. With a burst of anger, her forced himself upon his feet and he staggered towards her and grabbed her, trying to help her up and back to her seat. He felt himself stagger, but surprisingly, she was able to right him back and they collapsed next to each other.

“Bastards,” he murmured lowly. She bit her lip thoughtfully.

“Who?”

“Hm?” he asked. She looked at him curiously.

“The Dementors or the people who sent them?”

He glanced at her. Yes, there was a blue and bronze tie among the clashing colors that was her outfit. So she wasn't a first year. In fact, she was a Ravenclaw. Fitting.

“Both,” he muttered. Again anger burned in the pit of his stomach. What right did they have to send creatures like that at them? Was Fudge that much of a dunderhead or was there cruelty beneath the bumbling smile on the front of the Prophet?

“I'm sorry about your mum,” she told him. He looked at her suddenly and she must have seen the shock on his face because she continued, “You were whispering to yourself. It's okay. My daddy and I lost my mum when I was little.”

He looked away.

“I'm sorry.” he told her, hating the words that came out of his mouth. It was the standard consolation. The one people said in order to feel good about themselves and not dwell on something as inconvenient as a woman's death.

“I still have dad,” she told him cheerfully and he laughed hollowly.

“Lucky you.”

She seemed to pick up something in his words, but she didn't say anything. Not for a while. They just sat there in silence and Theo was grateful for it. The train continued its journey, but the world seemed greyer. It must have been the clouds still blocking out the sun and was that mist? There was never mist at this time of day off the edge of summer.

He didn't say much when they pulled into Hogsmeade. He tried to stand up, but he found himself leaning back against the chair. He felt someone pull on his hand. He flushed in embarrassment as she helped him to her feet. How was it that she was recovering faster than she was.

“Thanks,” he muttered lowly. When they joined the thronging mass of students heading out into the station, he pulled his hand away. He didn't need anyone thinking they were, well, like that. He flushed. He didn't even know this girl's name. He turned to her questioningly.

“Who are you?” he asked, grateful that the crowd was far more subdued than it normally was. She looked thoughtful.

“Well, that is something people spend their whole lives figuring out,” she told him and he suppressed a groan.

“Merlin, I mean your name! I'm Theodore Nott and you are?” he asked impatiently. She smiled airily and he was certain that she was aggravating him on purpose.

“Luna Lovegood. Pleased to meet you,” she told him. He grunted and she smiled at him again as though she was a party to some secret joke.

“I'm happy you're feeling better,” she told him. He looked at her questioningly. Was she having him on? No, she looked like she genuinely meant it. He looked ahead at the carriages and his lips curled in distaste. Merlin, he hated Threstals. He hated their undead-looking bodies and the way they seemed ready to tear into human flesh at a moment's notice. For her part, Luna stepped forward to pet one and he was surprised to see it almost seem to enjoy it.

“You're mental.” He declared. She looked at him in disappointment.

“You didn't look like someone who would be afraid of something different.”

“I'm not afraid,” he argued and she seemed to send him a look saying “prove it”. He paused for a moment. She was asking him to touch one of those things? Merlin, no. She was challenging him and she had already did it herself without so much as a moment's hesitation.

Well, Dumbledore isn't stupid. He wouldn't use animals that were dangerous to take students to school... Right? He asked himself. He cursed his almost _Gryffindorish_ decision as he stepped forward.

He huffed and made his way over to the front of the carriage, heedless of the stares sent his way. It was one thing for this girl to be interacting with something that wasn't there, but Theo had cultivated a persona of almost anonymous normality, but at this moment, he couldn't bring himself to care.

“See, nothing to it,” he told her triumphantly when he patted one's head before shuddering as he pulled away and it licked his fingers. He stomped away and stepped into the carriage and ignored the pleased expression on Luna's face on the way to the castle. She was a little bit like Blaise that way and if she wasn't a girl, he'd probably have threatened to jinx her.

Again, they resumed the journey in silence and once again he was grateful. When they reached the entrance hall, he heard the telltale signs of Draco boasting and the rest of his housemates laughing and murmuring appreciatively.

“Oh, Potter was screaming for his mommy, that's what I heard. The Dementors practically had him wetting himself. Then he fainted!”

He stiffened. Did he faint? He didn't think so. It was just... intense. He looked at Luna and with some relief, he noticed that she didn't approve. Good that meant she...

“Hey Nott! There you are,” Draco greeted, noticing him for the first time, drawing Slytherin gazes at him and the person he hadn't managed to push away and with a start, Theo realized that he hadn't really been bothered by her presence for a while, enough so that he had walked with her like....

“Oh, what are you doing with Looney Lovegood?” Pansy questioned snidely, her gaze lingering on the girl and Theo flushed, “Since when are you friends with her?”

“I will be friends with whoever I bloody well please, Parkinson! As you can see, I've spent enough time with you that Lovegood is pleasant in comparison.” He snapped at her harshly, earning a smirk from Blaise. Merlin, he would be hell to put up with later. He glanced at Luna.

Why was she looking at him like that? He huffed.

“I will see you around,” he grunted, dragging himself into the Great Hall. He didn't feel like social posturing more than he had to.


	2. Shoes and Runes

She wasn't wearing any shoes the next time he talked to her.

His afternoon had started normally enough with him tracing his hands along the halls after his first Ancient Runes class, scrying spectacles still on his face while Draco and Blaise watched him with bemused expressions on their faces. He could tell that Draco was becoming annoyed with him and that Blaise was getting ready with a smart comment, but he didn't care. Even with the very basic lens they gave to third years, he could see a thousand different shades of color he could never have imagined before.

He traced a hand over an “Ehawz” rune almost reverently, its shining pale blue color standing out among the blinding yellow that surrounded it. Draco scoffed.

“The professor told us that we'd go into shock if we kept those spectacles on too long, Theo. I swear, I am not going to sit by your bedside and read you “The Fountain of Fair Fortune” while you lie there like a vegetable.”

“I still have a headache from wearing mine,” Blaise groaned, scrunching up his face in agony. Draco snickered.

“Careful. You'll get wrinkles.”

“And what will Mother do then? She might disown me. You will have to convince your parents to adopt me! Tell them you always wanted a brother and that I am the handsomest, smartest, most talented boy in our year!”

“You're the humblest, that's for sure,” Theo told him dryly. Draco smirked.

“He speaks.”

“And he wants to try this out more. Aren't you at all curious about what we could find using these?” Theo asked in annoyance. Out of all his housemates, only he seemed to be interested in finding the secrets that Hogwarts possessed. The whole student body only used about a quarter of the castle, a sad indictment upon how few witches and wizards there were anymore. There were also rumors of the treasures and the secrets the Founders hid in the school. If Salazar Slytherin could hide a monster underneath the girl's bathroom (if the tales about Potter's exploits last year were true), then who knew what else could be found?

“Not really no,” Draco snarked, “McGonagall has already saddled us with more than enough homework. Why would I spend my free period playing explorer?”

"Too bad Granger disappeared so fast. I would have liked to see you try to woo her again,” Blaise told him. Draco blanched.

“Zabini, keep whatever twisted perversions you have inside your head.”

“Oh, big word. I like it. Per-Ver-Sion,” he sang out. Theo ignored them as they wondered off. It might have been fun winding up Draco, but his desire to explore the castle with new eyes outweighed any amusement he might have found in aggravating the Malfoy heir.

Of course, he could not make heads or tails of most of the runes yet. The runes the Founders inscribed into the very fabric of the castle were confounded most grown wizards, let alone a kid who just finished reading his first textbook on them, but he felt a quiet thrill whenever he recognized the meaning of a rune or a thread of color leading to something. The thread of magic always seemed to taper off, but he wasn't too frustrated, he told himself. It was only to be expected. He suppressed his growing headache and doubled his focus on the wall.

Of course, that's when she chose to greet him.

“I like that that wall too. The stone is a little different. A darker shade of grey, I think.”

As much as he prided himself on not letting anyone take him by surprise, Luna Lovegood seemed to be the exception. He felt himself jump in surprise and he glared at the girl next to him.

“Don't sneak up on people like that, Lovegood.”

“I wasn't trying to,” she told him honestly, “But I understand. You were captivated by the wall.”

“It's not the wall... Well, it's not just the wall... I was looking at them with my scrying spectacles,” he told her, not sure why he needed to defend himself against her but self-conscious all the same.

“It must be beautiful,” she told him, “Like seeing the inside of a raindrop or a snowflake.”

“There's nothing inside those. Just water,” he argued instinctively.

“And a Muggle will say there's nothing inside Hogwarts, that it's just a crumbling castle. Instead, there's a school,” she told him cheerfully.

“But magic is real. It is observable. If I put this on you, you'd be able to see the runes and the colors and the way the school is constructed... Like it's alive.”

“Not to Muggles. It's hidden from them. Who's to say there aren't countless worlds dancing on your fingertips?”

“Wizards aren't blind, Lovegood,” he hissed, not sure how she could get under his skin like this and not only that, but sound so bloody logical even when she was spouting nonsense.

“They aren't?”

He paused for a few moments, the words hanging in the air like the creatures she mentioned when they met on the train. He couldn't argue that point. People only saw what they wanted to and no more, like a green and silver tie around your neck or a familiar name from the papers. You could walk through Diagon Alley and no one ever see _you_. He looked down.

“Is there any particular reason why you're walking around without any shoes on?” he asked.

“They disappeared. They were most likely stolen,” she told him and he grimaced. Seeing his expression, she waved away his concern, “Oh, don't worry. A simple warming charm does the job. I'm quite certain they're around here somewhere. Last time they were hanging behind that suit of armor.”

She gestured to their right and Theo frowned. As aggravating as Luna was, she was.... Too innocent. Way too damn innocent. Doing something nasty to her was like kicking a puppy.

“You're way too passive about this. You should do something.”

“What would you do?”

“Hex them, jinx them, curse them, then hex them again,” he listed off instinctively, “Make them afraid to do something like that again.”

She bit her lip before shaking her head.

“I'd rather deal with this than people being afraid of me.”

“Well that's stupid,” he told her bluntly. He palmed his spectacles in his hand and offered it to her, “These might help. There are so many runes and little threads of magic that they'll stick out like a spilled inkwell if someone stuck them on the wall with a sticking charm.”

She beamed at him and he told himself that it was only to help her find her shoes quicker. She handled them gently and placed it upon the bridge of her nose.

“It is quite bright,” she told him and he felt some vindication at the awe in her face. At least someone besides him could appreciate what the chance to do this, even if it was Lovegood.

“Defense, light, protection, earth,” she listed off airily, her eyes scanning the walls around her and he blinked in surprise.

“I thought you were a second year.”

She smiled at him and pointed at her tie.

“Ravenclaw. I like to read ahead.”

He grunted.

They did find her shoes eventually. Someone had tied them together and hung them from a torch like a Muggle. Theo snorted in contempt. Luna just smiled and undid the knot with a flick of her wand and a whispered incantation. After she pulled them on she offered him the spectacles back.

“Thank you,” she told him and he shrugged as he put them back on and traced a rune he didn't quite recognize.

“It is quite beautiful.”

“It doesn't hurt your eyes?”

“No.”

He smiled slightly, and handed her the spectacles back.

“What do you think this rune is supposed to be?”

“Well, obviously it's to repel Nargles.”

He suppressed the urge to smack himself on the head.


	3. Chapter 3

There was something off about Theodore Nott, Draco decided.

Nothing in particular led him to this conclusion, but the young Malfoy had known Theo for years, even longer than he had known Crabbe and Goyle who, shortly before his first year, had been thrust into his life by his father for reasons he suspected had less to do with providing him with friends or even bodyguards and more with a promise that Draco would keep either of them from tripping over their own two feet.

Naturally, he preferred Theo’s (or even Zabini’s) company and lately, he seemed different.

For one thing, he was not picking quite as many fights with Pansy as before, rowing with her about once a week, which made Draco’s life much easier. Theo had even only snorted in disgust when Pansy blatantly hinted to Draco that she might like to be shown around Hogsmeade on their first visit. (Draco had pretended to be oblivious, but his father told him he had to humor her). He still liked to go off alone and was obsessed with looking at the castle’s runes, but overall, he was less bad tempered.

Sometimes, he even caught Theo smiling.

Theo never smiled.

Yes, he smirked and he laughed at other people’s expense, but he never smiled. He wasn’t Zabini, who decided that life was one big show for his perpetual amusement and had not stopped flirting with girls since before his voice broke. (His father told him at one point before he brought him to the boy’s birthday party last year that if Blaise had been born a girl, his mother would have been much more amenable to sending him to Durmstrang. He didn’t know why, but he nodded all the same). There was only one explanation, Draco decided. Something had put Theo into a good mood and that something had to be him discovering a secret from his obsessive viewing of the castle’s runes. He found a secret room or treasure or whatever else someone might have hidden in the castle over the centuries and he was keeping it a secret from him.

On one hand, he was impressed. He was certain Theo would find something of value at some point. The trophy room was littered with trophies for goody-goody Ravenclaws who found a room full of proto-sneakoscopes or some other rot and there was a funny-looking necklace in his father’s collection that his grandfather had found hidden away in a wall in his seventh year and he had been forbidden from ever touching. Theo was clever enough to find something like that and keep it to himself. He just didn’t expect it to be this soon.

So, of course, he was going to find out what it was. What did he look like, a Hufflepuff?

“Can you run that by me one more time, Nott?” Pansy asked, her voice dangerously low. She propped her head up from her seat next to Draco in the Common Room. (His father told him to sit next to he). The young Malfoy suppressed a smirk. That time of the week, huh? Good.

“I simply asked what it was like to function without a brain. It’s an impressive bit of magic,” he shot back.

“Oh, it’s not nearly as impressive as you managing to muddle your way through potions. How is you hand? Still shaking?” she mocked. He glared at her. Theo had gone through yet another growth spurt over the summer and he was still adjusting to it. Before he could retort, Blaise spoke up to deescalate the situation.

“Ladies, please. I know that you both want my attention, but I’m not ready to settle down yet.”

Pansy did a particularly good impression of a goldfish and Theo grimaced.

“Merlin… That image… Why?”

Daphne Greengrass giggled from the corner where she was chatting with her friends and again he grimaced.

“To be honest… I find your expressions terribly funny,” Blaise told them bluntly. Pansy shot a glare at him.

“I shouldn’t be surprised, considering your mother.”

“Enough, Pansy,” Draco drawled lazily in his best Malfoy™ voice, watching his friend trudge out the room, “You both were giving me a headache.”

Pansy sputtered her apologies and Draco did his best to maintain a benign expression. He didn’t mind Pansy. He really didn’t. She just got caught up in girly things and had a vindictive streak a mile wide and she fell over herself to please him. It was the way things were, but he couldn’t help but wish that she would argue with him the way she did Theo or Daphne or at least show some backbone. He already had a Crabbe and a Goyle. Besides, his mother didn’t act that way with his father. He’d have to write him again this week. Surely, he had humored her long enough. It wasn’t like he’d snog a Mudblood or a Weasley if he stopped encouraging her.

“Well, I am going to get Nott,” he interrupted her, leading her to frown slightly.

“Why? He always goes off on his own like this.”

He rolled his eyes.

“I need to borrow his notes. Unless you managed to stay awake for that pathetic excuse of a history class.”

“Merlin, Dumbledore is mad for keeping him.”

Draco nodded in agreement. When he popped outside the entrance of their common room, he allowed himself a slight grin. He only had a few hours to figure out what Theo was keeping a secret. He eyed the halls thoughtfully. After classes on a Friday like this, most students were either studying or taking things easy, but Theo could be anywhere. He smiled when he spotted Theo and quickly made his way down the corridor, careful to stay at least ten feet behind him. It seemed he was making his way towards the fourth floor corridor.

He spent ten minutes following him, confident that he wouldn’t be spotted as Theo put on his scrying spectacles. He was practically blind with them on. With a confident grin, he turned the corner and…

_Thump_

 

“Sorry…”

“Watch where you’re going… Granger?!” he asked, outrage marring his face as he stood up. Of course, it would be her. She had to ruin everything.

“Malfoy,” she greeted him coldly, all contriteness on her expression vanished in a moment as she stuffed a necklace down the front of her robe. Come to think of it, he couldn’t remember ever seeing her without that self-righteous expression on her face except for last year…

An uncomfortable feeling gurgled in his stomach and he sneered at her. He should have been happy to see her petrified last year. She was a mudblood. She had no right to be here. She was lucky the Heir hadn’t killed her. He had hoped he’d get her.

So why was it when he went to gloat that year, he hadn’t felt a sense of victory?

Instead, he felt distinctly uncomfortable. He knew it wasn’t guilt. He had no reason to be guilty. He was right to want her gone!

Fuck her.

“You should watch where you’re stomping around, Granger. You almost act like you belong here,” he told her with a sneer.

“I do belong here, Malfoy. I think I’ve proven that!” she snarled and he smirked at her.

“Grades mean nothing outside of school, Granger.”

“You’d think that, wouldn’t you? With your father able to buy you success,” she told him and he bit back a retort. He didn’t have time for this.

“Out of my way,” he ordered harshly, shoving past her and earning her ire. She stalked behind him, but he ignored her. He needed to find what Theo was hiding and…

“Do you always stalk your friends?” she asked him, a bit loudly. He cursed and covered her mouth, bringing her behind a statue of Lancel the Forgotten.

“You be quiet and take off or I swear to Merlin-,” he began. He suppressed a cry as she bit him and reluctantly let go.

“I swear Malfoy, I have no interest in your rule-breaking, but I will tell Professor McGonagall unless you give me one reason not to.”

He grimaced. Of course she was curious. She was too curious for her own good. He glanced at Theo who seemed to be examining a portrait, all but dead to the world.

“If you must know, my friend is acting weird and I am trying to find out why. As a good friend should.”

“Yes. Nothing says “friendship” like hiding behind statues and following him like a creep. I’m glad you’ve graduated from stalking Harry.” She whispered sarcastically, “For your information, he seems to be looking at runes and talking to a Ravenclaw. Perhaps you can actually do some studying in your free time…”

He rolled his eyes. Of course she would recognize the spectacles. She was in that class too. Along with every other one. Wait, Ravenclaw. So, Theo had managed to con one of them into helping him. Probably a seventh year. He turned to glance at him and his jaw dropped.

“Loony Bloody Lovegood?” he asked flabbergasted. Granger glared at him.

“So there’s yet another person beneath you. No wonder he keeps her a secret from you. I’d hate to be in the same house as you.”

“You’re not good enough,” he told her. He glanced over at them. They were talking and… Theo was laughing? No, he was chuckling, but still…

“Bloody hell. He said she was his friend, but I thought he was spiting Parkinson.”

“Well, you know what I think?”

“Who cares what you think you self-righteous little...”

“I have my wand,” she warned him, holding it under his chin. Merlin, she was fast. He shook his head.

“Nevermind,” he snorted, watching them walk away. He turned in the opposite direction. He’d speak to Theo later about his choice in friends.

It didn’t occur him until later that night how odd it was that Grange was in that corridor. It was usually deserted at that time of day. The only time there were people there was when there were classes.

And since when did Granger wear a necklace?


	4. Chapter 4

It was nice having a friend, Luna thought happily as she headed towards the library. She hadn't been certain Theo was a friend at first. Most people did not seem to like her much after she started speaking to them. Her first year became terribly lonely when Ginny started speaking less and less to her until she stopped altogether.

It was almost like she faded away.

It had been frightening, but when she told a prefect that her friend's soul was being eaten by a gibbering gnarl, she had told her kindly that maybe she just didn't want to spend time with her.

She went to feed the thestrals that night. She didn't much care about breaking curfew then.

So, it was nice to meet up with Theo at the library to do homework. Or help him try to figure out the meaning of the runes on the castle walls. He still seemed to be afraid of thestrals, but that was okay. They seemed to like him and they were good judges of character. It was also nice of him to bring his friend Blaise to meet her, even if his face was making funny expressions when the dark-skinned boy practically bounded over to her like an overexcited puppy.

“So, you are Theo's little secret,” he grinned at her. Theo seemed to smack his face. She looked at him questioningly.

“I didn't know I was a secret,” she told him. Theo grimaced.

“Just from him.”

“From Draco too. He was the one that followed you when you went on your little walks with her,” he told him with a teasing expression.

“Because _he_ would tell _you_! And you would get the completely wrong idea in your head and put it in _his_ head.” Theo told him, a resigned expression on his face.

“What kind of wrong idea?” she asked curiously. Blaise smirked at his friend.

“Oh, I like her,” he told him.

“You would,” he replied bitterly and Luna blinked in confusion.

“That is a bad thing?” she asked. Blaise stifled a laugh, as though she had told a particularly funny joke.

What an odd boy.

“No... It's just that Blaise is....”

“Handsome? Charming? Obscenely rich?” the dark-skinned boy listed off.

“A git... Yes. That's the word,” Theo deadpanned. Blaise held his heart, as though bitten by a dribbling wasp.

“Oh... You are a cruel man, Theodore Nott. You break my heart.”

“And terribly dramatic. I did not want to burden you with him,” he sneered. Luna grinned at him.

“But you like him. You wouldn't complain about him like that otherwise.”

“Exactly. It's how he shows affection,” Blaise theorized. She nodded in agreement.

“It’s alright. He’s easy to read actually.”

“I am not easy to read,” he denied, looking a little put out. She tried not to smile.

“Most people cannot,” she told him kindly. Blaise snorted and Theo chose not to say anything though she knew he remembered telling her that he thought most people were idiots. She could see a few people watching them in the corridor and she smiled in understanding. While Blaise seemed to almost preen at the looks that they were being given, she could tell Theo just wanted to go elsewhere.

That was okay. She may have gotten used to being given odd looks, but that didn’t mean Theo had to so she smiled at him and turned to head down the corridor to the library like they had originally planned, but she stopped when she found a familiar redhead walking towards her.

“Oh, good afternoon Ginny. I’m glad the gnarl went away,” she told her honestly. In their classes that year Ginny seemed much more like herself, full of fire and quick with an impressive bat bogey jinx that she was certain was taught to her by the twins.

“What are you doing with them?” she asked, ignoring her comment. She eyed Theo and Blaise like a cornered kneazle, her back straight and her eyes narrowed. Luna blinked in confusion.

“They are nice. Why wouldn’t I?” she asked in confusion. She noticed Theo rolled her eyes at that even as Blaise’s smile seemed to thin and Ginny’s mouth pursed.

“Luna, they’re _Slytherins_!”

“So?” she asked in confusion, her eyes wide in shock.

“Obviously we’re up to no good,” Theo snarked and Luna frowned. He was staring at Ginny intently, his back straightened like an grapplehook ready to strike or take flight.

“Oh, no, obviously she is intimidated by my good looks.” Blaise replied.

“Trust me, I wouldn’t be taken in by your “good looks” considering what happens to your mother’s husbands,” Ginny replied and for the first time since Luna saw him, he frowned.

“Shut your mouth, Weasley!” Theo growled, obviously understanding whatever her friend meant, but Ginny continued.

“It’s the Slytherin way, isn’t it? She showers them with compliments and attention, makes them putty in their hands, uses them, and she discards them. Isn’t that right?”

Theo reached into his pocket and Luna could tell Ginny was reaching for hers so she grabbed Theo’s arm before things could go horribly wrong.

“Stop!” she told him before turning to Ginny, looking at her in disappointment. She had never brought into the stereotypes about Slytherins before, but now she seemed ready to get in a fight with Theo and Blaise because of the color of their tie.

“What happened?” she asked softly. Ginny bit her lip.

“Luna… There’s a reason their house isn’t trusted. A wizard never went to Slytherin without going bad in the end,” she told her, looking her in her eyes, pleading with her, but Luna felt and uncomfortable fire in her belly. Her words erupted from her without any planning on her part.

“And I’m Loony,” she told her evenly. Theo and Ginny both opened their mouths to say something, but she continued, “If what everyone says about Slytherins are true, then what everyone says about me is true. I am mad and believe in stupid things that my father writes in his tabloid and will not listen to reason so there is no point in telling me otherwise, is there?”

“Luna, you know what I meant.”

“I’m sure I don’t,” she snapped. It was an uncomfortable feeling, being angry at a friend and saying things she knew hurt, but couldn’t stop herself. It was like someone was moving her mouth and forcing her to say these things and she hated it. But she hated seeing her friends hurt more, it seemed so she couldn’t stop.

“So, I don’t want to hear more,” she told her and she felt something grasp her heart when she saw Ginny’s expression when she walked past her. The rest of the day wasn’t fun either. Blaise’s smile was too wide and Theo was silent and she just didn’t have the energy to try to make him open up like she normally enjoyed doing. Still, there was one bright spot.

“You’re not loony,” Theo told her suddenly, when they had packed up their bags. They were alone since Blaise quickly lost interest in homework he had done a year before. She looked at him curiously and he looked away.

“I don’t like what they say about you. Bunch of bollocks. Today won’t help.”

Suddenly, that unpleasant feeling that had nestled in her stomach all day disappeared and she smiled at him.

“I don’t care.”

It was nice having a friend she decided later again when she sat in her corner in her common room later that night. She didn’t have to have several. Just one was enough. Or two. Blaise was nice too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I really struggled with this one. I despise bashing, but Ginny was never going to react positively to Luna hanging out with Slytherins after her ordeal with Tom so this had to happen sooner or later. I do not plan on making Ginny antagonistic so I hope I portrayed her reaction realistically and Ginny doesn't come off as unsympathetic. :)


End file.
